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ROH Best in the World 2011


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Colt Cabana vs. Tomaso

- Really fun comedy spots from Colt. I eat that shit up with a spoon. Tamaso does nothing for me and I thought the ending was lame. Should have had Colt go over and no one cared about Chamaso.

 

 

Jay Lethal vs. Mike Bennett

- The little Savage tribute from Lethal was way cool. I haven’t seen Lethal since he went to TNA so the Scorpio pony-tail was in full-effect. I thought this was a perfectly fine little match and Lethal got some spunk on that elbow drop.

 

 

Rhino vs. Homicide

- These guys came out with energy and Homicide’s suicide dive was sweet. Damn, when they brought the ladder in, I sorta rolled my eyes but then Rhino dropped him stomach first on the ladder and I felt queasy. Biggest problem so far… Homicide no-selling or recovering too quick from some sweet spots from Rhino. They need to reunite Rhino with Corino as old ECW guys because Rhino can still go. I heard some bitching about the finish but I liked the finish with a clever way to counter the Gore. Not a great match but a fun one.

 

 

Corino vs. Elgin

- At first, I wasn’t into this because Elgin is like a poor man’s Rhino and I just saw Rhino. Then Corino tried a suicide dive, got caught and dropped with a powerslam on the outside and that looked nice. Unfortunately, they got back in the ring and Elgin looked lost. Eh, Elgin continued to look lost and they should have done a Corino-Rhino match and been done with it. The post-match Kevin Steen angle was pretty great and Corino took a nasty package piledriver.

 

 

El Generico vs. Christopher Daniels

- You can say what you want about Daniels but he does flippy shit with the best of them and I like Genrico in flippy shit mode. Damn, I was really digging Daniels’ work on Generico’s neck. Absolutely nothing wrong with that at all so when he hooks on a chinlock, I have no problem with it whatsoever. So later on, when he hits the Last Rites or another move that is long past its prime, it makes sense and that’s what I need in my wrestling... logic. Really fun stretch run with a particular nasty looking spot where Generico is thrown off the apron and a cameraman is wiped out. When Daniels put the belt on, I lost my shit. The finish looked botched but the outcome was the right one.

 

 

Four Way Tag Title Match

- Crowd didn’t dig the headlock stuff early on but I like that shit so no complaints. King and SB were doing fine until King rushed in and SB botched a cross body. When the Kings get in, some miscommunication problems and King & Titus look off. The match takes off with everyone diving outside with Jay’s moonsault and Hero’s dive looking the best. I liked how each team had a turn at hooking on a hold on SB. King early in the match, Brisco after the dives and Claudio soon after. Fuck, Titus and the Briscoes were having a sweet sequence but he had to no-sell a sweet exploder. Godammit. Shit, a sweet double team neck breaker and Titus is right up. Sell a move. I will say that the Briscoes elimination was pretty damn sweet though but I didn’t like that they were gone first. Naylor and I are going to disagree huge here but Iappreciated Claudio slowing things down and I like that he hooked the camel clutch on Shelton since they established Shelton as the guy being abused all match. Man, after some nice cutting off the ring work by the Kings, Kenny comes in and he and Hero are not on the same page. However, Titus and the Kings had a nice sequence topped off by a SICK loaded elbow from Hero. Once the Kings and WGTT go at it, both teams look in synch and it is capped off by a Sweet UFO by Claudio. The ending was anti-climactic but a fun tag match. I watched this match earlier when I bought the PPV and enjoyed more the first time. The 2nd time around, you start to notice the flaws and mistimed spots (especially from the ANX).

 

Davey vs. Eddie

- If you like Davey Richards, you will like this match. If you don’t you won’t. After a few nondescript early moments, Davey does some chain arm work which I enjoyed going from the arm bar to the Fujiwara to the hammerlock. Now, does Eddie sell the arm after? Oooh, headbutt exchange but that isn’t the focus of the match. Hey more armwork from Davey… good enough for me. If Edwards sells the arm just a quarter of what Liger sold against Sano, I’ll give this a thumbs up. Nice spot where Eddie escapes another armbar, holds on to Davey’s feet and just stomps on his head repeatedly. Well, he isn’t selling the arm but he is selling the leg even though he continues to do moves that require impact on his leg including a stupid double stomp through a table. Cool visual though but made absolutely no sense. So the headbutts do come into play as Davey delivers a flurry of headbutts into a sweet corner German only for Eddie to stand up? Christ, that shit bothers me. As does Eddie countering an ankle lock with an ankle lock just popping up after 50 headbutts, a corner German. Ugh. Anyway, the ending was what you would expect and I can see why people like and hate Davey Richards but I was more disappointed by Eddie Edwards in this match. If he would have just dragged the arm across the apron or the crumpled on his bad leg ala Orton at Mania. It is interesting that Davey showed so much emotion after the match in a great moment. Not something you expect.

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Colt Cabana vs. Tomaso

- Really fun comedy spots from Colt. I eat that shit up with a spoon. Tamaso does nothing for me and I thought the ending was lame. Should have had Colt go over and no one cared about Chamaso.

 

 

Jay Lethal vs. Mike Bennett

- The little Savage tribute from Lethal was way cool. I haven’t seen Lethal since he went to TNA so the Scorpio pony-tail was in full-effect. I thought this was a perfectly fine little match and Lethal got some spunk on that elbow drop.

 

 

Rhino vs. Homicide

- These guys came out with energy and Homicide’s suicide dive was sweet. Damn, when they brought the ladder in, I sorta rolled my eyes but then Rhino dropped him stomach first on the ladder and I felt queasy. Biggest problem so far… Homicide no-selling or recovering too quick from some sweet spots from Rhino. They need to reunite Rhino with Corino as old ECW guys because Rhino can still go. I heard some bitching about the finish but I liked the finish with a clever way to counter the Gore. Not a great match but a fun one.

 

 

Corino vs. Elgin

- At first, I wasn’t into this because Elgin is like a poor man’s Rhino and I just saw Rhino. Then Corino tried a suicide dive, got caught and dropped with a powerslam on the outside and that looked nice. Unfortunately, they got back in the ring and Elgin looked lost. Eh, Elgin continued to look lost and they should have done a Corino-Rhino match and been done with it. The post-match Kevin Steen angle was pretty great and Corino took a nasty package piledriver.

 

 

El Generico vs. Christopher Daniels

- You can say what you want about Daniels but he does flippy shit with the best of them and I like Genrico in flippy shit mode. Damn, I was really digging Daniels’ work on Generico’s neck. Absolutely nothing wrong with that at all so when he hooks on a chinlock, I have no problem with it whatsoever. So later on, when he hits the Last Rites or another move that is long past its prime, it makes sense and that’s what I need in my wrestling... logic. Really fun stretch run with a particular nasty looking spot where Generico is thrown off the apron and a cameraman is wiped out. When Daniels put the belt on, I lost my shit. The finish looked botched but the outcome was the right one.

 

 

Four Way Tag Title Match

- Crowd didn’t dig the headlock stuff early on but I like that shit so no complaints. King and SB were doing fine until King rushed in and SB botched a cross body. When the Kings get in, some miscommunication problems and King & Titus look off. The match takes off with everyone diving outside with Jay’s moonsault and Hero’s dive looking the best. I liked how each team had a turn at hooking on a hold on SB. King early in the match, Brisco after the dives and Claudio soon after. Fuck, Titus and the Briscoes were having a sweet sequence but he had to no-sell a sweet exploder. Godammit. Shit, a sweet double team neck breaker and Titus is right up. Sell a move. I will say that the Briscoes elimination was pretty damn sweet though but I didn’t like that they were gone first. Naylor and I are going to disagree huge here but Iappreciated Claudio slowing things down and I like that he hooked the camel clutch on Shelton since they established Shelton as the guy being abused all match. Man, after some nice cutting off the ring work by the Kings, Kenny comes in and he and Hero are not on the same page. However, Titus and the Kings had a nice sequence topped off by a SICK loaded elbow from Hero. Once the Kings and WGTT go at it, both teams look in synch and it is capped off by a Sweet UFO by Claudio. The ending was anti-climactic but a fun tag match. I watched this match earlier when I bought the PPV and enjoyed more the first time. The 2nd time around, you start to notice the flaws and mistimed spots (especially from the ANX).

 

Davey vs. Eddie

- If you like Davey Richards, you will like this match. If you don’t you won’t. After a few nondescript early moments, Davey does some chain arm work which I enjoyed going from the arm bar to the Fujiwara to the hammerlock. Now, does Eddie sell the arm after? Oooh, headbutt exchange but that isn’t the focus of the match. Hey more armwork from Davey… good enough for me. If Edwards sells the arm just a quarter of what Liger sold against Sano, I’ll give this a thumbs up. Nice spot where Eddie escapes another armbar, holds on to Davey’s feet and just stomps on his head repeatedly. Well, he isn’t selling the arm but he is selling the leg even though he continues to do moves that require impact on his leg including a stupid double stomp through a table. Cool visual though but made absolutely no sense. So the headbutts do come into play as Davey delivers a flurry of headbutts into a sweet corner German only for Eddie to stand up? Christ, that shit bothers me. As does Eddie countering an ankle lock with an ankle lock just popping up after 50 headbutts, a corner German. Ugh. Anyway, the ending was what you would expect and I can see why people like and hate Davey Richards but I was more disappointed by Eddie Edwards in this match. If he would have just dragged the arm across the apron or the crumpled on his bad leg ala Orton at Mania. It is interesting that Davey showed so much emotion after the match in a great moment. Not something you expect.

You're being too tough on Elgin. I really enjoyed that match against Corino. The guy is over too with his insane Steve Williams like strength which from what I've seen is over like crazy with everyone. This guy has so much upside it's insane. He could be a future ROH heavyweight champion and at the very least a strong contender.

 

Generico vs Daniels was a lot of fun. I did have the Transformers soundtrack on while listening to it though which made it four times as good as it would do for any match:)

 

Davey vs Eddie was a very interesting match in that it was different in how it was put together. The effects if they went this way or a different way is something I coudl talk about for a long time. Overall, I loved it. It's best to watch it without being spoiled otherwise you can't get the full effect. It felt very, very competitive which it had to be and in a lot of ways I think it made Eddie into more of a face. I think he looked extremely strong in defeat and is now totally credible as a world champion moreso now than even when he had the belt. This will make people get behind him more. He's got that sympathy with him now.

I also liked the drama of Richards/Edwars being brothers and built from the same cloth in what makes them tick. Richards "didn't want to" hurt and end Edwards' dream but Richards knows what makes him go is the same as what makes Eddie go and if he didn't do it and give it his all than Eddie could never grow complete as a person. To not do it would be the greatest insult to his brother. But Richards is still conflicted and it makes for some terrific moments such as the incredible spot where Richards is going to dragon screw Eddie's hurt leg in the ropes in one of this trademarks spots and hesistates. Eddie has to slap and encourage him on assuring Richards it is the right thing to do not only for Eddie but for Davey himself.

Davey still is unsure though but doesn't let it stop him from going all out against Eddie which he displays by talking to him while on the top rope and the awesome "You'll always be my brother" line before finishing him off with the last kick. I knew it was over at this point. So did Davey.

Oh yes, and I also love the spirited talking to each other while they were to face and face

 

I was expecting a very emotional post match celebration/interview given who Eddie and Davey are and what they went through but this blew those thoughts out of the water. It's better to be felt than talked about. I was tearing up.

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Davey/Eddie didn't do an awful lot for me. I don't mind Edwards (though it can be hard to take a guy seriously when he makes Miz look menacing) and I'm far from a 'Davey Hater' - I thought the match with Shingo was great for what it was, and the match with KENTA would've been great if he hadn't made a comeback after the Falcon Arrow off the apron - but the match really felt at times like they were throwing shit at the wall. So much of the match just seemed jumbled-up.

 

There's an obvious story to be had, that of Davey being hesitant and Eddie more brutal until Davey finally lets himself go all out. The dragon screw leg whip spot was OK, they're all a bit hokey and really only worked to a point with Shawn and Ric, but it's coming within two minutes of Eddie killing him with the fisherman buster on the apron and a double footstomp through a table. Then you had Davey kick the ringpost right near the end; it felt completely in the wrong place.

 

No one's expecting them to lay their matches out perfectly, but this wasn't even an all-out spotfest. You could probably re-arrange everything they did, add a little there, take a little some place else, and it's something close to a great match. The submission trading is still Bad Angle, but the match moreorless hits their ceiling. I just thought it was about as flat as a match of its type can be.

 

That all said, especially given the setting, the post-match was great.

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Davey vs. Eddie

- If you like Davey Richards, you will like this match. If you don’t you won’t. After a few nondescript early moments, Davey does some chain arm work which I enjoyed going from the arm bar to the Fujiwara to the hammerlock. Now, does Eddie sell the arm after? Oooh, headbutt exchange but that isn’t the focus of the match. Hey more armwork from Davey… good enough for me. If Edwards sells the arm just a quarter of what Liger sold against Sano, I’ll give this a thumbs up. Nice spot where Eddie escapes another armbar, holds on to Davey’s feet and just stomps on his head repeatedly. Well, he isn’t selling the arm but he is selling the leg even though he continues to do moves that require impact on his leg including a stupid double stomp through a table. Cool visual though but made absolutely no sense. So the headbutts do come into play as Davey delivers a flurry of headbutts into a sweet corner German only for Eddie to stand up? Christ, that shit bothers me. As does Eddie countering an ankle lock with an ankle lock just popping up after 50 headbutts, a corner German. Ugh. Anyway, the ending was what you would expect and I can see why people like and hate Davey Richards but I was more disappointed by Eddie Edwards in this match. If he would have just dragged the arm across the apron or the crumpled on his bad leg ala Orton at Mania. It is interesting that Davey showed so much emotion after the match in a great moment. Not something you expect.

A review I just read:

Shore's Slant: Well, there you have it. Almost every Davey Richards match has felt the same for me. There was very little drama in this match. They did not do a good job of playing up the friendship history or even the "final chance" stipulation for Davey. I never had a moment where I thought the match was ending. Even at the end! The finish was the lamest thing I have seen since…well, since the last Davey Richards title match where he just collapsed from a supposed concussion. And a lot of people on Twitter are digging the post-match emotion. But if felt fake and forced to me. I'm not saying it wasn't legit, but it didn't come across my feed that way. http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish...e10019235.shtml

Does that sum it up nicely too? I've been wanting to give Davey the benefit of the doubt on many occasions, but I'm finding it harder and harder to do so. It seems as though he purposely no-sells everything because he thinks that's what Kawada, Misawa, and Kobashi did.
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I actually found it easier to watch this match than other Davey matches. My frustration was with Eddie Edwards, not Davey. Still, having said that, I think Meltzer had it right in that the match could have been five minutes less. I just wanted some limb selling... I am a mark for that shit.

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